Improvement in charcoal-furnaces



W. S. WRIGHT.

Charcoai Furnace.

Patented Oct. 6, 1863.

Witnesses l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILEY S. WRIGHT, 0F ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT IN CHARCOAL-FU RNACES.

Specification formingl part of Letters Patent No. 40,207, dated October 6, 1863.

To all w/bom, it may concern.'

Be it known that I, VILEY S. WRIGHT, of St. Louis, in the county of St. Louis and Stute of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Charcoal-Furnaces; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure lis a longitudinal vertical section through the center of my improved furnace. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through the same. Fig. 3 is a top view of the furnace complete.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the three figures.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in the construction of portable charcoal-furnaces. Y

The difficulty experienced in using charcoal-furnaces ofthe circular form arises from the fact that two or more large cylindrical vessels, or an elliptical vessel, cannot be placed upon them and properly exposed to the heat of the furnaces, and those which are made with a cylindrical body and an elliptical top, bolted together with a view to obviate this difficulty, have so little of their' top surface exposed to the direct heat of the fire that they consume large quantities of fuel in heating large vessels which are placed upon them. Besides, in such furnaces, where the top chamber extends over the sides of the cylindrical body, it is obvious that the tire must be confined within this latter portion, otherwise it would not be supplied with suficient draft to support combustion.

The object of my invention is to combine in a portable chareoal-furn ace the advantages of the open iiaring shape of the circular furnaces to obtain the necessary draft, with the elliptical top, so that large cylindrical or elliptical vessels placed upon my furnace will ,have their bottoms exposed to the direct heat so as to form a hearth, which, together with the body A, is mounted ou legs a, a a. The shape ofthe body A is such that a horizontal section taken at any point through it is of the form of an ellipse, as shown in Fig. 3, though the size of this body increases in its lateral as well as longitudinal dimensions as it rises from the hearth B, so as to give somewhat the shape of a bell compressed in one direction. This gradually curved and flaring shape which is given to the body ofthe furnace allows the air which is admitted into it through the side door b and end openin gs, c c, as indicated by the arrows in Figs. l and 2, to pass up along the sides inside of the furnace as Well as up through the center thereof, and it will be seen that there are no obstructions to the free passage of air upward and outward in my furnace. The grate d,near the bottom of the furnace, forms beneath it an ash-pit, G, and upon this grate the charcoal is put, iillin g the space above it to the upper grate, D, which latteris made up of sections that fit each other and the'elliptical shape of the flaring top of the furnace, as shown in Fig. 3. This latter grate is made of open-work or narrow bars, and the vessels which'a-re to be subjected to the heat of the furnace are placed upon it, it forming a proper support for round or cylindrical vessels as well as vessels of an elliptical shape. It will thus be seen that in whatever position a vessel maybe placed on the grate D, whetherin the center or at its ends, its bottom will be directly over a bed of coals which are supplied freely with air, and, in order to insure a more perfect supply of air to t'ne coal at the extreme ends of the furnace, I have made the end openings, c c, above referred to, in addition to the side opening b, for the purpose of igniting the coal rapidly and more evenly than would be the case if merely a side draft were allowed and a current of air ca-rried up through the center of the bed of coals. By this form of furnace the greatest amount of heat will be brought directly1 Linder the Vessels placed on the grate D, and there will be very little heat radiated from the sides of the furnace. I thus obtain a saving in fuel and economy in the time required to heat large vessels. Besides, I am enabled to keep all the coals in the furnace evenly ignited directly under the grate D at the ends as well as in the center of the furnace. The openings g g g, which surround the grate D, are intended for the escape of gas and other products of combustion, and to kc ep up a draft when the top of the furnace is nearly if not wholly closed by large vessels. These openings are made through the flaring body A at its ends for the purpose offacilirating the draft at these points.

The projecting lugs i i at the semicircular ends of the furnace are intended to receive the eyes which are formed on the ends of the bail E, which is used in moving the furnace from place to place.

VVhatI claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. Acharcoal-furn ace of elongated form and with a flaring mouth, the dare being both in a lateral and longitudinal direction, and continuations ofthe curves of the base portion 'WILEY s. WRIGHT.

Witnesses:

E. G. QUINBY, GEO. H. STUMPF. 

